


all those years ago

by oakenshoelace



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Chest Binding, Implied DNKB, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, That's it. That's the fic., Top Surgery Scars, Trans Dande | Leon, Trans Kabu (Pokemon) implied only but like. he's def trans in this, Trans Male Character, guess what y'all?, he transed his gender oh my god, it's a sfw trans leon fic! one of the few in the tag!, it's more comfort than hurt i promise, trans author
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:53:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25174912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oakenshoelace/pseuds/oakenshoelace
Summary: It gets better. Things start to look up.Leon only wishes he could tell his younger self that.
Relationships: Dande | Leon/Kibana | Raihan, sorta. implied.
Comments: 27
Kudos: 81





	all those years ago

Leon’s chest felt _tight_.

He struck his signature pose, smiling down at himself while the crowd’s deafening cheers surrounded him and the—now defeated—challenger on the pitch. 

This marked his sixth competitive season as the reigning Champion of the Galar Region. Yet another year he remained _victorious_ , the only difference being that he battled someone other than his rival for the first time since winning his title. 

It was hard to focus on what was happening, the pressure on his chest was almost debilitating, to a point where he took a second or two longer than usual to break out of his pose in order to address the challenger. It was painful to walk towards them, to shake their hand and to wave at the crowd as he walked off field.

Each step towards the pitch exit felt excruciating, and his ever-growing anxiety that the crowd could _see_ right through him wasn’t helping either. It was a horrible state of being overall, his pained ribs combined with the worry that always plagued his public appearances.

As soon as Leon was out of sight of the crowd, he slipped past Chairman Rose and rushed to the changing rooms, clutching his chest and muttering curses under his breath. He could hardly breathe by the time he threw his hat down at the communal locker-room bench, struggling to pull his sweat-soaked shirt off. 

The binder was too tight. He outgrew it too quickly, which was what worried him the most. How much longer until he could stop wearing these death traps every day? 

His hands shook as he collapsed on the bench and reached for the hem of the binder, pulling it up and removing it swiftly. And for just a moment, he sat there, bare-chested with his face buried in his hands as he let his body _breathe_. 

There were a couple seconds where Leon remained motionless, trying his best not to let this slip-up get to his head. The silence in the changing rooms was near deafening, and that wasn't helping very much either. 

Had he really exerted himself that much during the match? 

It's not common for trainers to run and jump around during battle, usually they stand at their post and survey the fight as best as they can from there. But the Champion had his own way of going about it, he liked to run with his pokémon, to _see_ the action as it goes down, to take note of every angle of attack from all over the battlefield. It just so happened that it wasn't the smartest option for someone who binds their chest. 

Leon reached forward and into his bag, pulling out his favourite hoodie and tugging it over his head. His arms wrapped themselves around his torso to feel his ribs. Those damn ribs. 

He grit his teeth, still trying to take deep breaths and steady his mind and body if only just a little bit, because right then his ribs felt like they were on _fire_ , and he mentally kicked himself for cracking like this, for showing even the slightest sign of weakness.

After a couple of seconds of him sitting there, hunched over and heaving, he straightened his back and remembered what Kabu taught him;

_“Straight back, deep breaths, in through your nose and out through your mouth.”_

Stretching out his back was painful, but it made it easier to breathe, which ended up dulling the general pain of it all after a couple of minutes. Leon didn’t dare to leave the locker room anytime soon, and the sheer thought of having to deal with the Chairman, Oleana and the business side of it all pained him. He needed to rest, to get back up on his feet after slipping like this.

He was still just a _kid_. His sixteenth birthday had only been last week, he still had so much more ahead of him.

But that was eleven years ago.

Right now Leon lays in his bed, looking up at the blank ceiling, tracing the two big scars on his chest. He smiles privately—bittersweet—wishing he could tell the younger version of himself that everything would go okay for him. Even when he loses the title of Champion, everything would turn out just fine.

Even after a year, the thought that he's not Champion anymore is strange to him, though it's not as painful nowadays. It's a closed chapter of his life, but one he looks back on proudly, and he hopes that all of Galar does too.

He’s proud to be from Galar, a region that’s so prosperous and kind, a region that’s so diverse both in terms of people and pokémon, it’s truly a wonderful place for visitors and residents alike. The rich history of the region is something Leon also proudly wore, literally, with the sword and shield crest plastered at the very front of his old league uniform.

It’s an odd thing to think about for him.

After a while of staring at the ceiling, it gets rather bleak, and Leon’s eyes get bored of just staring aimlessly at it, so he instead turns his gaze to Raihan—who is asleep next to him. Raihan always sleeps with a shirt on, while Leon himself gave up that habit long ago. He wears his scars proudly on his chest, much like the symbol of the sword and the shield.

To him, the scars are as much a part of him as his home is.

He wraps his arms around himself, like he did all those years ago, but now he takes his time to really _feel_ his chest, and to run his fingers along the scars. They start under his armpits, and stretch across his front but don't quite meet. It’s comforting to him, reassuring even when he knows they’ve been there for years now.

If he had the chance, Leon would show them to his younger self in a heartbeat, he would tell him _“Look, you made it.”_

It wasn’t easy, but he _made it_. 

No battle’s ever easy, after all. No matter how effortless you make it look, you’ll always slip along the way, and that’s okay because if you keep pushing forward you’ll get there eventually.

He remembers picking out his name plain and simple. He sat there on the field with his pokémon, picking at his scraped knees and thinking his new name through carefully. He needed a strong name. 

And that’s when it finally came to him. Leon. Like charme _leon_ , his team’s ace. But also like the lion; a strong, powerful creature that represented authority and pride. Yet his name still retained the modesty of a dandelion, the quaint little flower he saw dotted all around the fields of Postwick. 

He had picked one off the field, and handed it to his aforementioned pokémon companion, _“My name is Leon from now on, okay?”_

He still likes his name. Every day he’s assured by the fact that he grew into it, that he became the strong, powerful type he was named after, but kept the approachableness of a Postwick wildflower. 

Leon can’t help but smile again, closing his eyes and draping an arm over his face. What seemed unachievable years ago is now his very reality, he has his scars but he also has his home, and he’s proud of both.

**Author's Note:**

> thank u for reading !! this is my first published fic but i'm just.. very passionate about trans!leon, please go easy on me !! 
> 
> you can find me on [twitter](http://twitter.com/imreallytryan) and [tumblr](http://oakenshoelace.tumblr.com)!
> 
> when this was still in the drafts, [bakanohealthy](https://bakanohealthy.tumblr.com) posted some [art](https://bakanohealthy.tumblr.com/post/613026159933947904/constriction) that i felt goes very very well with this! i have no relation to them and their art, but the did inspire this a little bit.
> 
> take care of urselves, ok?


End file.
